Yes, 1".
How-To Video DIY Spindle bearing greasing tool w/o touching wheel bearing preload
- Thread starter Lucky Strike
- Start date
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Yes, 1".
Rehashing an old thread. If one were to own the slee tool and doesn’t want to mess with the wheel bearings, can’t the slee tool be used just like the pvc? The bracket or 2x or whatever holding the tool on would need a hole in it to accept grease gun. Sound right?
I am with this guy. I am having a hard time visualizing the grease path. How can it go right past the wheel bearings without lubricating them? I would probably need a cutaway to see the grease path.
It doesn't go past the wheel bearings.
I guess i'm buying an air hammer today on my trip to Harbor Freight
- Thread starter
- #28
This isn't exact but a simple way to think about it. You have a shaft (cv axle) that spins inside a tube (spindle). There are small needle bearings that are in between the tube and shaft, and those are what we are greasing using whichever method presented in this thread. The wheel bearing are a set of bearings on the outside of the tube, and are not being greased. there is no path to get from inside the tube to the outside.
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- Thread starter
- #29
This would imagine this method would work if you already have the slee tool.
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- #30
I'd do it every time you repack the wheel bearings, 30k, or if you submerge the vehicle for an extended period of time. It's pretty easy to do. That being said I have probably 50k since I did mine and I skipped over it when I repacked my wheel bearings. It's on the to do list.
mdcoa
SILVER Star
Thread resurrection--what grease to use. FSM says:
"Apply synthetic oil and lithium soap base chassis grease NLGI No. 1 to the drive shaft"
I've looked til my eyes bled--local parts store has nothing that's NLGI 1--only thing I've found is this: McMaster-Carr
Pretty sure that's the right stuff, but am I pole-vaulting over mouse turds? Would love not to have to buy a second grease gun and just hit this with the moly stuff I use on the u-joints and prop shafts. . .
"Apply synthetic oil and lithium soap base chassis grease NLGI No. 1 to the drive shaft"
I've looked til my eyes bled--local parts store has nothing that's NLGI 1--only thing I've found is this: McMaster-Carr
Pretty sure that's the right stuff, but am I pole-vaulting over mouse turds? Would love not to have to buy a second grease gun and just hit this with the moly stuff I use on the u-joints and prop shafts. . .
I spent an obnoxious amount of time looking for some as well. Didn't find it locally. The first one is what I went with. The second one has the NLGI 1 and moly requirements but I think the binding agent gave me pause.
Not a good idea to use moly on roller type bearings: Not on Wheel bearings, Spindle bearings, or Ujoint/Spiders (have roller type bearings). Moly will tend to make the roller bearing "skid" instead of roll, causing premature wear.
Moly fortified is best suited for splined drives: Such as propeller shaft slide yoke. But if you have one grease gun & one grease: Green Grease works on everything as does M1 Synthetic. I've found GG doesn't separate inside the gun or wash out as quickly as M1.
To be clear, I used mine on the spindle per the factory service manual. I am also a mechanical/materials engineer. I think making a broad assumption about what greases are best with what types of bearings. Really depends on the type of metal, surface finish, surface treatment, etc. Not to mention whatever weird chemical reactions if you stay mixing greases, if solids will precipitate out of solution, etc. I trust the factory did their homework. If it's what the factory put in there and they haven't put out a TSB to change it, it's what I'll use.
Eyedaho
SILVER Star
Do you think the NLG2 is too viscous for those needle bearings?
It's not about what I think. It's about what the manufacturer suggests. I don't care enough to go into the chemistry and see if something bad will happen. I know if you mix DOT5 and DOT4 brake fluid little crystals form, destroy seals, and cause total brake failure. Didn't care enough to look into it further when I found a source of the NLGI#1.
The owner's manual calls for NGLI#2 other places on the chassis. As long as you get the lithium based stuff and you're able to pump the stuff in there you may be ok. My understanding is the NGLI#2 just has more thickening compounds to make it tackier. I struggled getting the grease into the spindle with the PVC tool suggested in this thread. I bought the NGLI#1 stuff and the tool from Slee and it went very smoothly. Haven't given it much thought since then.
The owner's manual calls for NGLI#2 other places on the chassis. As long as you get the lithium based stuff and you're able to pump the stuff in there you may be ok. My understanding is the NGLI#2 just has more thickening compounds to make it tackier. I struggled getting the grease into the spindle with the PVC tool suggested in this thread. I bought the NGLI#1 stuff and the tool from Slee and it went very smoothly. Haven't given it much thought since then.
Oh, and to be clear I did not use the AMSOIL grease because I could not find enough info about the calcium-sulfonate thickener they used instead of the lithium soap. There is some good reading here if you actually care.
www.machinerylubrication.com
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